Bush in West Virginia: standing by file cabinets, claiming they held not wealth, but worthless IOUs.
Worthless IOUs?
Now wait just a minute....
Imagine this: You have been lending me money each year for a long, long time. I have been paying some of it back, but the loans keep building up.
Then, strapped for cash, you go to a bank for a loan to tide you over until I pay you back.
The bank's thinking about it. But I then show up at the bank, saying all the signed, notarized, iron-clad IOUs I wrote to you are worthless--and that makes you a poor credit risk.
Because both you and the bank know I have scads of assets, and an income stream that won't quit, you and the banker look at me like I'm crazy. Both of you start laughing.
Tell me: Why is no one laughing at George Bush? He is the "me" in the scenario. The "you" is the Social Security System. And the "bank" is the US public.